trickle charger alert

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

If you have one like pictured with the fuse near the clips, be sure to disconnect from battery before starting, or else keep a couple of the larger 4 amp blade type fuses on hand. Sorry for the quality of picture, but the camera in my moron (non-smart) phone leaves a lot to be desired.

Note, if the fuse blows you will only get the top light, none of the others will come on when it is connected to a battery.



I have 2 of these chargers I have had for 2 or 3 years, and this is the first problem I have had. Can't blame it on the charger though.

[Dale Finch]

I have several of that same type charger, but mine doesn't have the fuse near the clips. Two of the chargers have been returned to Walmart after finding them with ONLY the top (red) light on. They gave no argument when I returned them...actually just swapped them out for new ones. The question is, why is that happening? I did not try to start them with the charger attached. Do you know if there is a similar fuse INSIDE that can be replaced, if that is the problem?

[Stanton]

Dale, I'm not sure if there's an internal fuse on some models or not (I would suspect there is). But I think it would be best never to start a tractor with the trickle charger still connected.

John, sorry it happened to you, but it's a good lesson for the rest of us. Thanks.

[Smokeycub]

But I think it would be best never to start a tractor with the trickle charger still connected

I quite agree. I'll go a step further and say that, unless the charger has a "start" function built into It, that it's a good idea to disconnect any charger before attempting to use the starter. I've killed a couple chargers doing that.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

Dale, I'm not sure if there's an internal fuse on some models or not (I would suspect there is). But I think it would be best never to start a tractor with the trickle charger still connected.

John, sorry it happened to you, but it's a good lesson for the rest of us. Thanks.

I do not know about the internal fuse either, but if there is it is probably soldered to the circuit board and may not even look like a fuse.

As to starting with it connected, I have never found anything about it in the instructions, and have done it numerous times, Mostly because I forgot to disconnect it), but this is the first time I ever had a problem. Of course that may be why the trickle chargers in an earlier post of mine failed.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

Learned something else about this model trickle charger today. I went out to clean the mess off the roads, and noticed it was still on charge, so since my cub has a cutout rather than a regulator I put the knob on HI charge and pushed snow, sleet, and such for a couple hours, then came back and reconnected the trickle charger. To my surprise it came on in the charging mode rather than saying charged. This is a new battery and I was puzzled so I did some investigating. The battery voltage was at 7.44 and as I watched, climbed to 7.45. Should not be that high. Then I realized, that since my cub is one without a regulator, it just keeps charging and with the switch on high can easily overcharge the battery if run for an extended period that way and it had raised my battery voltage high enough the charger, which automatically selects 6V or 12 V thought it was connected to a 12 volt battery and was trying to bring it all the way up. Guess I will need to remember to wait a day or two after using the tractor before connecting the automatic voltage trickle chargers. On tractors with voltage regulators this should not pose a problem.

[Bigdog]

Out of habit I never engage a starter with any charger (except starter / chargers) attached. The heavy current flow required to turn a starter motor is well beyond what a charger can supply and while attached to the battery, essentially in parallel, the starter will draw current from the available voltage source which is both the battery and the charger. The high current draw will probably equal a dead short condition to the trickle charger and if fused they will blow. The older chargers without sensitive components can withstand this for short periods but solid state devices are unforgiving and damage will occur.

[BigBill]

I have the larger charger the same brand for over 25 years now that's quality. I kick it over to 200amps when starting my jeep to plow. My genny isn't charging so I'm plowing snow running off the battery. It's too darn cold to worry about it now.
One more month the jeep will get oil, grease, the annual check over for next season. It's been a rough winter.

[Posco]

Guess I will need to remember to wait a day or two after using the tractor before connecting the automatic voltage trickle chargers.

I don't understand this. I could let my truck set for a month with no loss of battery power, at least not to the point it wouldn't start, so I'm curious why a tractor battery would be different.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

A lot of these old tractors set for extended periods, and having 6 volt batteries The longer they set and the colder the weather is the harder they are to start. A battery self drains at the rate of around 1% or a little less per day. Starting that 6 volt rig in the winter is easier if the battery is hot rather than down a ways, especially if the battery is getting old. I normally only keep one on my loader that sets for as much as 3 months at a time. Right now I also have one on my snow plow rig since it is setting under the lean too rather than the shed, and may set for quite a while without being used.

[Posco]

A battery self drains at the rate of around 1% or a little less per day.

Always learning something here. Thanks, John.

[leerenovations]

On my 8n, I have an older battery and kept dragging the big charger out of the shed to jump it. Until i finally realized what those little rings connectors in the box were for. Believe it or not, that is what a trickle charger excels at, keeping it topped off. Cant believe I didnt think of it for a while.m Sometimes the best ideas come when the stupid haze disappears a little.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

I have a couple 12 volt batteries I also use them on. I have a standby generator that has a little battery about the size of a motorcycle battery I keep one on through a timer that runs it a couple hours once a week, plus my ZTR that during the winter I just plug the charger in every week or two and run a day or two then disconnect. The original batteries in both those rigs lasted about 5 years, and the second ones have been in service over 2 years. That is fantastic for that type of battery.